


A Coldness That Could Only Be Hers

by spookypastries



Series: Prompto AU series [1]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Astral!Prompto, Gen, Glacian!Prompto, If you squint real hard you might even see Ifrit/Prompto lololol, M/M, Prompto is Shiva, and the Ardyn/Prompto is mostly hinted to a past relationship, sry if that was your kind of thing, the shipping is pretty light tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-12
Updated: 2017-03-12
Packaged: 2018-10-03 04:00:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,929
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10235408
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spookypastries/pseuds/spookypastries
Summary: Where Gentiana was never Shiva and the train scene in chapter 12 went just a bit differently.AKA where Prompto is a god and it takes getting pushed off a train for it to come to light.--“Did you not realize you had one of the Six with you all along?”Part 1 of a collection of prompto AUs





	

**Author's Note:**

> *I had a dream where Prompto was every character in the game and then a collection of one shots was born.  
> *Also clearly not beta'd and I apologize for that

“Stop! Stop, dammit!”

“Where is he?!” Noctis could barely move his body forward. His hands rubbed uselessly along his arms in a vain attempt to generate heat. “Where’s Prompto?”

“Oh, there you are!” The older man said with fake surprise. “I’m worried about your friends,” he continued on, like he actually gave a damn. “They’ve fallen and they can’t get up. Why not lend them a hand?” Ardyn gestured to Ignis and Gladio, unconscious on the floor between their seats.

Noctis didn’t think it was possible to get any colder but he swore he could feel ice in his veins at the sight of his fallen comrades. He had already lost Luna, Noctis had to believe that Prompto was still alive, just how many more people was he going to lose?

“A coldness that can only be hers…” he heard Ardyn muse before the prince’s left knee gave way, forcing him down to the floor.

Damn it, he couldn’t afford to give up. Not when he was so close to the bastard. He glared up as best he could at Ardyn but the man wasn’t paying any attention to him at all. Still looking at the other end of the train cart as though recalling a memory. A particularly strong gust of wind burst through the other end of the train cart, and Noctis gasped at the figure he saw in the distance.

...Prompto?

He could hardly believe it, but Noctis couldn’t help but be relieved at the sight of his best friend alive. Relief that immediately turned into anger as he saw the condition the blond was in and knew exactly who to blame for it.

Prompto was leaning against the doorframe of the train cart with one hand. His head was bowed and Noctis wanted nothing more than to tear Ardyn apart as he spotted the broken shackles on Prompto’s wrists and bruises recent enough to have not even faded yet.

With what looked like a pained gait, he limped towards them and it was only then that Noctis was reminded of Ardyn’s presence as the man readjusted his stance to stand more firm as opposed to the casual stance he had before when taunting Noctis.

Noctis braced himself for the taunt Ardyn would no doubt make but instead all that came out was a flat  
“What.” A far cry from the affable demeanor the Chancellor usually had, Noctis suddenly realized this wasn’t some planned taunt at Prompto’s expense- some way to parade Prompto around Noctis to further remind him on what he took away before vanishing from his sight with the blond in tow.

Prompto had apparently escaped on his own.

“Now I’m quite curious on how you-” Ardyn started, voice still strangely serious but giving way to curiosity before he abruptly stopped. Amber eyes widened briefly before Ardyn went back into a lax pose, and his mouth perked into the beginning of a smile. “Oh. Oh my.”

Noctis was overjoyed at the sight of his friend but Ardyn couldn’t be forgotten. A wide grin overtook the Chancellor’s face. “Well don’t I feel foolish now. I must admit you played your part quite well.”

Prompto stared blankly at Ardyn before seemingly coming to a decision and then straightening as though he was never injured at all. Noctis can’t help but stare at his friend in awe as he walked forward with confidence, not paying any mind to the subzero conditions even as the chill got stronger. Noctis didn’t know how he was doing it considering he could no longer stand.

“I can’t help but be quite impressed.” Ardyn started with his usual friendly tone, as though congratulating a colleague on a job well done. “You were even able to fool me,” he continued on, also unbothered by the unnatural cold.

Prompto stopped just inches away from Ardyn. He frowned up at the taller man who only seemed to become more joyful with every word he spoke, “that body is not the one you wore the day you-”

Before he could finish, Prompto was already reaching upwards, stretching up to stand on his toes and-

Noctis didn’t even care about how undignified he must look- kneeling on the ground, shivering, and jaw open in disbelief.

There was just no way Noctis was going to be able to wrap his head around the sight of Prompto placing a gentle kiss on Ardyn’s lips.

Thankfully, Noctis didn’t have to witness Ardyn’s reaction (he wasn’t too confident that it wouldn’t be a wholeheartedly _enthusiastic_ response with how flamboyant the Chancellor acted at times.) as the magenta haired man became encased in ice the moment of contact.

Prompto’s wounds were already fading, not even a trace of the dried blood left behind. The shackles around his wrists shattered, shiny shards spilling onto the ground after being turned to ice.

The blonde took a step back from Ardyn, and continued on his way towards Noctis like he never stopped at all. He flashed the kneeling prince a guilty smile as he knelt down to his level.

Noctis flinched as Prompto’s hand approached him and immediately felt bad as the blond just looked so sad but also understanding. He was always a sucker for his friend’s puppy dog eyes.

He willed his body to still as a hand laid on his shoulder and Noctis can’t stop the relief of feeling the pressure. Proof that he is real.

“I’m sorry for lying.” Prompto started. “ I trusted once,” a glance towards Ardyn frozen figure, “and nothing good came from it. But I think I’m ready to accept it now.” the blond finished with a nod.

“You’re different, Noctis. Rise, my King.”

Noctis blinks and the blonde’s skin turns blue. Also he’s not blonde anymore. Long silver hair tied back in a low ponytail, blue skin, and while his eyes stayed the same Noctis could note an eerie red glow in his pupils. He wore what seemed to be a white suit with various shades of blue coating armor facets. Two long coat tails fell gently behind him, as Prompto floated just an inch or so above the train floor, hands clasped behind his back with a nervous smile. With the freezing temperatures no longer affecting him, Noctis’ vision cleared enough for him to notice what seemed to be wings of pure thin ice, yet despite the gentle flexing to keep the other afloat they did not shatter.

“Y-You’re the Glacian!”

“Prompto...did...did I…” Noctis stuttered. He could already feel tears stinging in the corner of his eyes, but he had to know. “Did I kill you?”

There was no immediate reply. Noctis felt like he was going to faint. The silence was answer enough-he did. He killed his best friend.

“Of course not, Noct. And don’t go blaming yourself for what happened on the train either.”

Impossible. He will always blame himself. There was no one else to blame. Ardyn may have weaved a spell but he knew Prompto for years. He should have seen through it. What was the point of having the power of the gods if he couldn’t even see through a simple illusion?

Noctis blinked, scrunching his nose in annoyance as the other male flicked his nose. The pout on his face shouldn’t have fit his ethereal features, but Noctis wasn’t surprised on how it seemed to fit regardless considering it was _Prompto_.

“I can already tell you’re not going to listen to me but at least pretend you will.” Prompto whined, a familiar lilt to his voice that Noctis associates with anything to do with camping or hunting.

The raven haired prince rolled his eyes and averted his gaze to ignore what would undoubtedly be a puppy dog expression. His eyes landed on Ardyn’s frozen figure. Noctis frowned. He almost forgot about that.

“So if you’re not dead then…?” he asked, voice trailing off with a questioning glance to the still floating figure. Prompto sighed, an apologetic expression overtaking his features.  
“I always have been. But that’s not what you’re really asking.” Prompto started, rubbing the back of his head in a familiar nervous gesture. “Er, does being dead count if you weren’t ever technically alive? I mean, they thought Shiva was dead so I let them write me off as dead. But, you can’t exactly kill an astral- only force them to adapt.”

He wasn’t getting anywhere with this. Noctis stood up, still clutching his jacket close to him (why didn’t he have long sleeves. _Stupid_.) and nodded towards his two retainers still passed out on the carriage floor. “C-Can you help them?”

Noctis’ shoulders sagged in relief at the other boy’s nod. Finally they would all be together again. With Ignis and Gladio awake, he was sure they’d be able to make better sense of this whole Prompto situation, and his friends would be more than ecstatic to have the younger male back in their group.

“You can tell them I died.”

Apparently Prompto liked to give Noctis near heart attacks. Like pushing him off a train wasn’t enough.

“Astral or not, I will punch you.”

“Please, Noctis.” Prompto pleaded, tone going wistful. “I want them to remember me how I was. The only me they ever knew.”

Noctis clenched his jaw and looked away. Tears pricked at the corner of his eyes for he already knew what he was going to do.

How the hell was he supposed to deny him anything?

  
\--

  
“Noctis, I…”

The King tilted his head at his usually confident advisor. The blond gave a small sigh before continuing.

“I know you don’t like to speak of it, but I just need you to know. That we tried. We did. We never forgot.”

Noctis raised a brow in confusion, “Specs, not too sure where you’re going with-”

“Prompto.”

Noctis’ eyes widened. Oh boy. He never told them. They still don’t know.

 _Noct_.

Noctis winced at his best friend’s voice. Ten years in a crystal with no one but Bahamut would have driven him insane. His only saving grace had been that any astral could enter the Crystal’s subspace, thus sparing him from what would have undoubtedly just been him reflecting on every single failure up to that point until he was free. He was able to have a self pity party for all of maybe five minutes before Prompto appeared floating next to him, a sad smile on his face.

“Talk to me?” He had begged.

The astral had opened his mouth and told him how the world began.

Noctis shook his head, focusing on the present lest he zone out completely. “Ah, like I said,” the king started nervously. Ignis merely shook his head and plowed through any pathetic excuse he would have come up with. “He’s watching over us, I know. Sire, you never openly wept for whom was undoubtedly your closest friend. You’ve woken up 10 years in the future, and you never did tell us what happened that night and no doubt you don’t want to speak of what you saw.”

Damn, he really felt like trash. “Listen, Ignis, I appreciate it. I really do. But I swear I’m not repressing some kind of rage trigger that’s going to make me snap the moment anyone mentions Prompto. I promise you, I’m fine. It’s just…” Complicated would be the wrong thing to say, they’ll never leave him alone. “He wanted you to remember him how he was.” There. That could work. Also, not a lie considering Prompto never wanted his origin to get around. Feeling victorious at his response, he glanced up at Ignis’ pale face and Gladio’s expression melted into that of horror, guilt swimming in his eyes.

Noctis cursing himself internally. Great. He probably just made everything worse by making them think he walked into seeing Ardyn feasting on Prompto’s corpse or something. Fantastic.

_You’re really bad at this._

Noctis did his best to stop himself from rolling his eyes as he walked past his two retainers before they could say anything. “Didn’t you guys say we need supplies before head to the Citadel? C’mon.” he called over his shoulder, never stopping his stride towards the shop at Hammerhead. Neither of them answered him.

He really was bad at this.

  
\--

  
They were winning. He could see the Infernian’s attacks getting more desperate, but at the same time they packed less of a punch. Noctis grinned as him and Gladio initiated another link strike. It’s like there never was a gap in years since they last saw each other at all.

_He’s as down as he’s ever gonna get._

“You offering to help out?” Noctis asked aloud without skipping a beat. He’s gotten used to his long time companion’s voice in his head, and he didn’t need to look at either of his two oldest friends fighting by his side to know that they must be looking at him in confusion.

The wind began to pick up and the sweltering heat that permeated the field suddenly seemed to be overtaken by an icy wind. Noctis could see bits of pure magic flat from the ground, the usual tell tale sign that one of the gods were willing to lend a hand. He jumped back, Ignis and Gladio following his cue as they never forgot the abrupt weather changes that always happened before Noctis would be overwhelmed by power.

A sudden chill surged through his entire body and Noctis fell down to one knee with a gasp, unable to stop his arms from hugging himself reflexively as he felt frost already begin to form on his clothes and knuckles.

A sharp intake of breath to his right and he can see Ignis and Gladio’s eyes widen. Cavalry has arrived, then.

There was a hand on his shoulder and Noctis immediately relaxed as warmth immediately rushed his throughout his body. He looked up at the figure at his side and couldn’t help but smile back at the soft smile that Prompto gave him- blond and still standing tall in the same clothes he wore the last time Noctis thought him human.

“About time.” He quipped with a smirk and watched Prompto grin in return. A ruffle to his hair that Noctis instinctively tried to shake off, and Prompto lept into the air, familiar blonde hair and clothes swept away by another gust of wind and revealing his Glacian form that Noctis had witnessed so many years ago on the train.

Ifrit charged for him but Noctis wasn’t even the least bit concerned as he watched in awe as Ifrit’s form slowed before being frozen solid from the temperature drop and magic around him. Noctis couldn’t help but raise a brow as he saw his friend float up to the other Astral’s face, before placing a chaste kiss on the spirit’s bottom lip, instantly shattering the god of fire.

The ice spirit floated back gently to Noctis’ side, watching as the ice sprites slowly began to disappear leaving only snow in their place.

 _“We were friends once. I can’t help but sometimes wish things didn’t turn out the way they did, but I can’t find myself fully regretting it all either.”_ the Astral confessed, arms crossed with his face leaning on one hand.

“Why’s that?” Noctis asked, eyes still tracing the last remains of the battle, ice still scattered across the ground.

 _“Cause I got to meet you, of course!”_ Prompto grinned at the king, and there was no way Noctis was even going to try not to cry.

Noctis laughed through his tears and it suddenly occurred to him that all anyone else could hear was a garbled mess, if even that. He turned on his heel towards where Ignis and Gladio had retreated during the summon and repressed the snort that wanted to escape at both of their slack jaw expressions. Gladio was staring at Prompto with glassy eyes and while Noctis knew Ignis couldn’t exactly see in the traditional sense, the white knuckles and trembling grip on his lance told Noctis that the older male knew exactly whose voice had spoken even if he couldn’t understand what was being said.

Ignis took a deep breath before stuttering, “That voice...that was…”

Noctis shook his head apologetically and gave his advisor a weak grin. “Ah, yeah. So, Prompto was the Glacian the entire time.”

Silence fell at his words.

“What.” Good ol Gladio never failed him.

Ignis, however had his face tilted toward Noctis’ direction and even though he couldn’t really tell behind his glass, he knew the platinum blond was contemplating the events that took place a few minutes ago. He started slowly, “When you said that he was watching over us,” he waited for clarification.

Noctis nodded. “Yeah. As in, he was literally watching over us. In my head basically. You know how he is,” he gestured towards the current silver haired male at his side. “-never shuts up.”

 _“Hey!”_ the other pouted in response, light flashing briefly over his body, revealing his familiar gunslinger appearance and words spoken that could be understood by all. Gladio let out a short laugh.

“Yeah, that’s our blondie all right. Though by the looks of it not so blonde all the time anymore.” he said with a wry grin. Prompto shot a nervous smile at the bigger male in response which only seemed to encourage another laugh from Gladio. Prompto stiffened as Gladio approached him with a raised hand, only to let out a surprised gasp as he walked past him with a pat on the back.

“Yeesh you’re cold,” he remarked, still heading towards the steps of the Citadel.

 _“Huh?”_ Prompto looked at Gladio in confusion, turning to Noctis for an explanation. The King just shrugged his shoulders and walked by the spirit as well with a pat on his shoulder. Stopping at Gladio’s side, Noctis looked down at his hand briefly before shooting a smug grin at his Shield.

“Heh. Still warm to me.” the raven haired man bragged. Gladio simply rolled his eyes at Noctis’ statement. “Yeah, yeah the kid likes you the most. What else is new?”

Ignis pushed his glasses to a better position on the bridge of his nose with a sigh, already feeling a headache coming on. “End of the world and you two still find the time to argue. Why am I not surprised?”

He approached Prompto and placed a warm hand on his shoulder. “Regardless, it _is_ good to see you again, Prompto.” and with a smile he went to join Noctis and Gladio. Shooting a grin at where he knew Gladio must have been standing he chimed, “Also, Gladio. Prompto’s body temperature felt perfectly average to me.”

  
The brunet swore under his breath before turning back towards the confused astral. “Oi, you coming or what?”

Surprise briefly shown in his face at the question. Prompto immediately gave a soft smile as he shook his head, approaching the group at the stairs

_“You guys…”_

He stopped before Noctis and turned to his two other friends at his side. _“Iggy, Gladio,”_ he nodded at each of them before smiling up at the raven haired King. _“I’m glad I got to meet you all.”_ Prompto said before leaving nothing but traces of magic behind as the other summons did when dismissed a fight.

Gladio let out a surprised noise and Ignis turned towards Noctis, “He cannot maintain a physical form here without royal assistance, same as the other gods I presume?”

Noctis nodded, a fist held over his heart. “Yeah. None of the gods can ever linger too long. But that doesn’t mean he won’t be watching over us.” Noctis smiled as he felt the other’s presence in the back of his mind.

_Let’s kick Ardyn’s butt!_

He walked up the steps to where Ardyn would be waiting.

  
\--

  
_“He wasn’t always like this, you know”_

Noctis gave Prompto a curious glance. “You talking about Ardyn?”

_“Yeah”_

Noctis let out a contemplative ‘hm’ as he stared back into the void of the Crystal.“Hard to imagine considering how much of an asshole he is now. But I guess there must be some truth to the old stories. Healer of the people, right?”

 _“We were going to fix the world.”_ the blonde lamented with a frown.

Prompto’s voice was laced with sadness and Noctis wanted to kick himself for bringing up what was apparently a sore spot for the other. Quickly trying to change subjects he grasped for the first neutral topic that popped into his head.

“Um, so is true what they say about the speed of black chocobos? You’ve probably seen loads of them before, right?”

Prompto’s frown immediately turned to a bright grin as he turned to Noctis, eyes sparkling with excitement.

  
\--

  
“This place sucks.”

_What happened to ‘Cake, baby’?_

“That was before I realized how much this place sucks.” Noctis replied, immediately inhaling sharply as he almost slipped off a rail. Again.

“Also, you’re here in my head again?”

_Ah. Yeah. Sorry, Noct. I mean I really want to help you out but I don’t think it would be a great idea with my other self still playing human with you guys_

“Yeah that’d be awkward. ‘Back up guys! I’m gonna call a god! Also please ignore the fact you’ve never seen me pick up an ice summon and also don’t look too closely I swear it’s not Prompto. Hi, Prompto.’”

_I can already imagine my own expression hehe._

Noctis rolled his eyes before leaping safely onto a platform below. “The logistics of time travel sucks.”

_You need to pick a new word. Also yeah, sorry for not helping out as much I want to. I poke at Grandpa a bit whenever I think you guys just might need a hand but-_

“Grandpa?”

 _Ramuh_.

“Oh jeez. No wonder he’s the only one that ever shows up.” Noctis vowed to never take the thunder god for granted ever again.

  
\--

  
“So.”

_Yeah?_

“You kissed Ardyn”

_You’re never going to let that go are you?_

“You also kissed Ifrit.”

_Can we please not talk about this?_

“When are you gonna kiss me?”

_Chosen King or not, I will punch you._

  
\--

  
Noctis groaned into Prompto’s mouth as the younger (older?) male nibbled on his bottom lip. He couldn’t stop a gasp from escaping as Prompto’s fingers trailed down his spine, cold as ice.

This was going to be over embarrassingly fast.

On the bright side, this was way better than the chaste kisses the spirit seemed to give out left and right regardless of whether or not the recipient was trying to murder them or not.

  
\--

  
He knew he was going to have to go back and face Ardyn eventually. But that was for the future- where demons and nightmares reign and he needs to put a stop to it by making the ultimate sacrifice. He’d been there, done that, and knew it would have to happen again.

He’ll see Luna, eventually be reunited with his closest friends, and all will know dawn once more.

However, that was for later.

Right now all that mattered was rescuing this last delivery truck full of beans.

Feeling the familiar sensation of an astral taking the field, Noctis’ eyes lit up with joy as he looked up and saw who it was that cradled him in his hand. With a loud laugh, he excitedly raised both hands up in the air and yelled “Grandpa!”

On the ground, Ignis and Gladio glanced at each other in confusion.

Prompto looked mortified.

He could hear the blond’s delighted cheer in his head.  


**Author's Note:**

> *Literally just imagine Prompto's astral form wearing Kratos’ Judgement outfit from Tales of Symphonia. I’m not even joking. That and with Blanche’s hair from Pokemon Go. I am very unoriginal.  
> *Hint of past Ardyn/Prompto because I am trash.  
> *Also you haven’t lived until you watch Cry's playthrough of FFXV and see him yell ‘grandpa/grandfather’ every time Noctis summons Ramuh.  
> *Random note; “italics” was when Prompto was talking out loud for anyone to hear vs Italics with no quotes when he was speaking directly inside Noctis’ conscience.  
> *If there was any confusion about the ending it was basically Noctis in New Game+


End file.
